Cattery vs pet sitter? Advice needed

[TheLucy]

I think the ideal situation would be to have someone staying in your house. Do you have a friend you could cat or dog sit for in return?

That is an idea! I had ruled out asking friends because I felt I'd be imposing or taking advantage of our friendship (I feel bad asking), but if I could return the favour then maybe it could work... Need to have a good think about my pet owning friends...

[Mymblesdaughter]

I am just the same with my two. I go away to visit my family on my own and OH has been away on his own. I usually get my parent to come and stay they live on the other side of the country to me so they see it as a holiday. My cats are very nervous and hide as soon as they hear the door bell. They have been left with a friend once and they now know my parents. After a couple of days they come out of hiding and usually by the end of the week they are acting normally.

I think the ideal situation would be to have someone staying in your house. Do you have a friend you could cat or dog sit for in return?   

[TheLucy]

Thank you for the opinions guys, it's really helpful! I don't have any cat owner friends I can ask, and because of Dana's specific issues google wasn't much help either. I'll definitely give the Felliway a go (I might try it when we have friends round and see how she gets on with strangers then?) - you've given me a lot to think about.

And yes, she's so pretty and silly! I've attached another picture because I can't resist showing off her cuteness!

Have you ever considered getting Dana a pal?

I have thought about it, I'm not going to lie! I love cats and would rescue a house full if I could!

But I'm not sure she'd actually like it, she gets angry enough when she sees a neighbours cat out the window. She has a walking jacket and we go out into the garden together, if she sees the slightest glimpse of another cat she starts hissing and growling. I grew up with 5 cats at home and sometimes they got on, and sometimes they didn't. She's very close to us and very particular with how she likes things, I wouldn't want to accidentally mess up her funny little routines (which is why I feel so awful when we have to go away!)

We're lucky in that me and my boyfriend work different hours, so she's always got someone at home with her, and hanging out with us seems to keep her entertained and happy, she's very content little kitty - apart from the cellophane munching and hating all our friends! 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Dana is gorgeous 

Have to say my first cat arrived in 1992 and havent had a holiday ever since except in 2004 over christmas and inti New Year both of us went on holiday to Devon together, she was coming up to 20 yrs old and ill but it was great.

The only time I have been away since was having to go for MRI scan in London and stayed away 4/5 days. I had two cats from CP who had been very badly treated and had been with me 4 months and putb hem in a cattery, unlike yours it was not good enough and both are terrified of people.

On their return one ran away and took about a week to get her to come home and that was because her friend , the other cat, knew where she was and effectively brought her back again.

I would agree with your BF, dont go! That would be what I would do.

Or Sues option if the cattery is really very good. I wouldnt do that myself unless I had a medical emergency that caused me no other option.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Meant to say, Dana is a beautiful lady.   Splendid little vest and pants she has there - an all in one ensemble...   

Good idea Rosella about the Plug ins and spray.

[Rosella moggy]

   to Purrs

Another loony cat lady here I'm afraid as we have 7 of the blighters    It's been 5 years now since we had a holiday together altho I did get away for 5 nights last summer as OH cared for the cats. 

The thing is a holiday is utterly pointless if you are going to stress out whilst you are away so I too would think the cattery option would be safest.  Certainly get the Feliway/Pet Remedy plug in started a week or so before you go in addition to the Zylkene.  If the plug in not an option in the cattery, you could get the cattery owner to use the spray daily maybe?

Have you ever considered getting Dana a pal? 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Like Dawn, my personal preference if for a pet sitter.  We've had our particular sitters for over ten years, and whenever we have acquired a new family member, they always pop round a couple of times first, so the cats know this person is someone known to us.  They also live in our house while we're away, which I know we're very fortunate to have, as not all pet sitters will do this within a manageable budget.

However, in your situation, and given Dana's particular needs, I think that she would be better catered for in a cattery, and whilst she may not be thrilled about going there, you will also have greater peace of mind.

[Dawn F]

I'm not one to judge, we never go away because he took a cat on from a family member who doesn't get on with our own cat meaning they have to be kept apart at all times - hence no holiday for two years!  if the chewing is a big concern you probably will have to use a cattery and I know lots of people here do with great success

[TheLucy]

can she be confined to a couple of rooms that are chew free!

We only have a little house and the downstairs is all open plan, so no doors. We have two bedrooms, we could potentially confine her to one of those? There’s a lot of stuff in both rooms that could be chewable (even if we took out what we could there would still have to be some things kept in there), but if it’s just one room I suppose a pet sitter might be more likely to notice if something had been eaten, or if she was acting strangely?
Would it still be quite stressful for her to be shut away for that long though? Or is it maybe the lesser of two evils :-s

I think the only solution is for me to quit my job, never go away, and stay at home with her forever (I wish! Haha!)

[Dawn F]

can she be confined to a couple of rooms that are chew free!

[TheLucy]

cat sitter every time for me!

I’m worried about the plastic chewing though - we keep everything that she likes to chew shut away, but she’s surprisingly resourceful at digging it out and if she does get very bored and isn’t played with she will start chewing other things. What if she chews and eats something upstairs, say, and the pet sitter doesn’t realise? Especially as she’s so nervous of strangers she might not come out at all anyway. I don’t know if I’m being panicky and overly worried though I just don’t know what to do for the best really!

[Dawn F]

cat sitter every time for me!

[TheLucy]

Hi, I’m new to the forum and was wondering if you might be able to help me with some advice (I don’t know if this is the right category - let me know if you think it would be better suited elsewhere) It’s a bit of an essay, I apologise in advance!

Me and my partner have a three year old partially deaf cat, named Dana. We adopted her from the RSPCA when she was a kitten, and we keep her as a house cat.

The dilemma I have is that we’ve been invited to go on holiday for 10 days in June, and Dana hates going in the cattery. When she’s there she doesn’t eat much, won’t leave her carrier, repeatedly tries to escape and attacks anyone who enters her pen. (I should say, it’s a very nice cattery and well managed, the lady who runs it did our home visit when we adopted Dana, so it’s not an issue with the cattery itself.) She’s also fine as soon as she gets home, and is back to her usual self the following day.

The obvious solution would be a pet sitter, but Dana’s very nervous of strangers, I think probably in part due to her partial deafness. When we have friends round for example, she stays upstairs most of the time, and on the rare occasion she does come downstairs she’s very jumpy, hesitant and keeps a fair distance.
To add to the problem, she also has an abundance of excess energy - she has lots of toys she plays with on her own, and we engage her in interactive play 2-3 times a day, if she doesn’t get played with she starts to chew and eat plastic things (she especially loves cellophane  ). I know she won’t play with a stranger as we’ve tried getting her to play with the friends/family members she’s most comfortable with and she has absolutely none of it. If we were only going away for a few days I think having someone in to feed her would be fine, but I’m really nervous of leaving her for longer than that incase she chews and eats something she shouldn’t - if a pet sitter only comes in twice a day and Dana hides the entire time they’re there, they might not even realise there’s something wrong or if she’s eaten something unsafe.

I don’t know if, under those circumstances, the cattery might be better, as at least she’s safe, even if she doesn’t like it??

We’ve tried Zyklene on our vets reccomendation, which did help a little the first time we used it, but didn’t help the second time when we went away last summer. We gave her 75mg once a day, for three weeks leading up to her cattery stay, and then the cattery owner gave it to her while she was there. I didn’t know if I should try a higher dosage? We haven’t tried Feliway, I don’t know if that could be an option?

I love her so much, I want to cause her as little undue stress as possible, and I feel awful and guilty for doing anything that could upset her. My boyfriend’s saying we should just stay at home and not go, but even devoted cat owners need a rest and some sun sometimes!

Sorry for writing an essay - any help or opinions would be wonderful, thank you for reading